Driver's friend says brakes were bad

WAMPSVILLE - The car David Bennett was driving on May 21 that struck and killed an 8-year-old girl had brake problems the night before, Bennett's friend testified in court on Wednesday.

Nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Truman said that on the evening of May 20, as Bennett approached the intersection of routes 5 and 365, Bennett "did not slow down in time" and veered off the road into a driveway to avoid a collision. Truman, who has experience changing brakes, testified that he didn't know if the problem had been Bennett or the brakes, but he advised Bennett that evening that he could replace his brake pads.

They made plans to do it the following Saturday. The accident happened on Friday.

Truman also testified that on May 20, as Bennett was driving the 1989 Ford Tempo, he was leaving a lot of "braking room" between his car and those in front of him.

Advertisement

Truman and his 18-year-old girlfriend were passengers in Bennett's car at the time of the accident.

"You care about your girlfriend a lot, don't you?" Defense Attorney Edward Menkin asked Truman. Truman replied that he did, and that they had been dating for three years.

"If you thought that car was unsafe, would you have let her get into that car?" Menkin asked.

"No." Truman replied.

"Would you have gotten into that car?"

"No." Truman replied.

Truman's testimony came on the third day of the trial of mechanic Morries Briggs. Briggs, who inspected Bennett's car nine days earlier, is on trial for criminally negligent homicide.

Both teenagers testified on Wednesday, offering their accounts of how the incidents unfolded.

Eighteen-year-old Rebecca Meyer told the jury that Bennett picked them up at Truman's home in Oneida Castle to bring them to Meyer's home in Morrisville. She testified that they first stopped at the SavOn on the corner of Route 5 and Main Street to get gas, then headed out of Oneida on Route 46. Meyer told the jury that when Bennett backed out of Truman's driveway, stopped for gas, and stopped for the light on Route 5, she did not notice any problems with the car.

She testified that there was no loud music in the car, and during the ride, she and the two boys conversed. She testified that as he drove along Route 46, Bennett was not speeding.

While both Meyer and Truman testified that Bennett was not speeding, the district attorney's office has an affidavit signed by a witness stating that 10 to 15 minutes before the accident that a 1989 Ford Tempo was observed doing an estimated 80 miles per hour on Route 46 and passing a car on the right shoulder.

Meyer then testified that Bennett, who was unfamiliar with the route and taking directions from his passengers, turned left onto Peterboro Road. Meyer said Bennett was driving at about 55 miles per hour, but she warned him a steep hill was coming up and he should slow down.

Meyer testified that as he descended the hill, Bennett tried to push the brakes, but the car did not slow down. She told the jury she smelled brakes burning as they descended the hill.

Meyer testified that she saw Bennett's foot pressing the brake pedal all the way down.

She said they all saw the school bus stopped at the end of the hill.

Meyer testified there was a car stopped behind the bus, which had its lights flashing, and also said there were several other cars stopped in the oncoming lane. Meyer said it seemed Bennett did not know what to do, as he was weaving the car back and forth.

"He was saying, 'I can't stop," Meyer said. She then testified that Truman put the car into first gear, but the car did not slow down. She said it just began to make a loud noise. She said that as she covered her eyes, the car passed the bus on the right and came to a stop.

Truman's version differed a little from his girlfriend's. He testified that there was no stop for gas, and that as they descended the hill, he advised Bennett to put the car into first gear, which they did. He said the car slowed down, but as they continued descending, Truman put the car in second gear, slowing it down more.

Truman also testified that there were three cars stopped in the oncoming lane of the road.

But other witnesses provided different testimony.

Stockbridge Valley Central Schools bus driver Frederick Marshall, who was driving the school bus in question that afternoon, told the jury that the warning lights and strobe lights were working on his bus that day. He said road conditions were good.

"It was the perfect afternoon," he said.

He testified that on his last stop on Peterboro Road, he engaged his warning lights and stopped the bus. He said he saw one car behind the bus that stopped when the bus stopped, and he said there were no cars in the oncoming lane.

Wendy Crossway and Elizabeth Houseman, both neighbors who have lived on Peterboro Road for more than 30 years, both testified that they saw no cars in the oncoming lane.

All three witnesses said they did not hear any brakes squealing or other warning that Bennett's Tempo was coming.

Victoria Henkes, the woman driving the car that stopped directly behind the bus, said she did not know Bennett's car was there until it was parallel with her car, driving on the shoulder. She testified that she didn't hear any noise from the car beforehand, and that the car seemed to be going at about 50 miles per hour when it was next to her car.

Also on Wednesday, the jury heard testimony from Richard Wahl, a field trainer for Monro Muffler. Wahl reviewed several documents related to the inspection by Briggs on May 12. Under questioning from District Attorney Donald Cerio, Wahl noted that on the inspection checklist, three items were not checked off: the brake equalization test, the steering and the emergency brake. Wahl said he had no personal knowledge of whether those tests were actually completed.

"But based on the document, they seem to indicate that they were not completed," Cerio said.

"Yes," Wahl replied.

Defense cross-examination of Wahl was expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. today.

Bennett is also facing a charge of criminally negligent homicide.

The prosecution is alleging that Briggs, the manager and a safety inspector for Monro Muffler in Oneida, provided an inadequate inspection of the vehicle driven by the then 17-year-old that struck and killed Mallory Eddy as she disembarked from a Stockbridge Valley school bus near her home on Peterboro Road. The prosecution alleges Briggs gave the car a passing inspection even though the brakes were bad.

If convicted, Briggs would face 15 months to four years in state prison on the criminally negligent homicide charge. He also was charged with reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor that carries a one-year maximum sentence.

Madison County Sheriff's Deputy Jamie Badgley, who was the first to arrive at the scene, also testified on Wednesday.